Mouse!
by trishna87
Summary: Done for Pottershare again. Friday Frenzy. Let's just say that when the cats are away the mice will play Poor Winky


**Author's Note:** This is Friday Frenzy again. We were given prompt words and one of us writes the story while the other draws it. So the prompt words are in bold … Please read and review? This one was a toughie to write

**Winky** lurked around the banister, on the landing of the staircase, her ears standing on ends trying to pick up what Barty Crouch and **Ludo Bagman** were discussing in his study.

**Ludo Bagman** had just arrived, very flustered and excited at the same time. He was carrying a box and he had demanded that Winky wake her master up so that he could go talk to him. After a lot of hesitations she had finally agreed to go wake her master from sleep.

She just didn't trust that bad old Ludo Bagman. _Always here to vex poor master_! Praying that they wouldn't notice, Winky pressed her ear to the door_. I wish I had an** invisible** cloak. _She couldn't really hear much, hardly anything at all. Crouch and Bagman seemed to be talking in whispers.

* * *

"Ludo are you absolutely sure that there is no harm in this? Is there a market for this … contraption?" Barty Couch sounded **dreary** and skeptical. _How can wizards come to terms with modern muggle appliances?_ There was no way he was going to invest more than a** knut** on this new wizard computer prototype.

"Come on Barty! I promise you this will revolutionize the way wizards go about their work. It'll definitely make life easier at the Ministry. I just need you to put in a good word for me to Cornelius, that's all." Ludo Bagman looked at Barty in such a sick and pathetic way, it made Barty cringe.

"Fine! I'll have to use it a while first. I don't want to recommend something to him and have it blow up in my face. Literally! Like the last time you told me to..."

"Ah let bygones be bygones," said Ludo hurriedly, forcing a nervous laugh. "But oh Barty do be careful. This is the only prototype I have on hand now. Especially the mouse!" exclaimed Ludo rather loudly. "It's made of some high tech fiber optics and charms"

"Mouse? A mouse? Ludo do you know what you're doing? I don't want mice running around here!" Barty scratched his head.

"Don't worry, the instructions are pretty simple. I'll unpack it and set it up now"

After Ludo Bagman left, Winky closed the door and began shaking and shivering. All Winky seemed to catch properly from the conversation were the words 'mouse' and 'blow up' and that scared her indefinitely. _Mr. Bagman means to kill my master!_ _He's going to do something with that 'mouse' he's leaving behind! I can feel it! No, not when I'm still here_!

Winky quietly opened the back door and went to the garden. Making sure no one was watching, she scaled the fence and went over to the neighbor's yard.

_Now where's that mean old cat!_

* * *

"WINKY!"

Winky dropped the plate she was drying. She didn't know why her master sounded so mad. _I thought he would be grateful for what I did_. She practically flew up the stairs and went to her master's study.

The study was in complete shambles. Books and papers lay on the floor. The curtains had rows of scratch marks down it. On the carpet next to the desk lay what looked like torn Styrofoam, broken plastic and a big black box with broken glass all over it. Barty Crouch stood at his desk, towering over Winky, his hands on his waist and his eyes fixed in a fierce glare.

"**Winky** I forbade you to enter my private study! I cannot believe you destroyed my…new Wizard computer...my mouse…. Oh dear it didn't even spare the **mouse pad**! That was what Mr. Bagman was here to give me last night! That was a prototype! Worth a lot of galleons! That was a gift from the Minister!"

"But master I thought there were mice in the house! I overheard you talking to Mr. **Ludo Bagman** about having a mouse in your study… So…so I let the next door lady's **pet cat** have a go at it! I thought it would blow up …I didn't know….I'm sorry master!" wailed Winky, clearly inconsolable.

"How could I have ended up with such a** stupid** house elf? I thought you **magical creatures** were meant to be smart, devoted and obedient! Let alone know about their master's allergies! I'm allergic to cats Winky! I feel **itchy** all over!" Sure enough there were bright red welts all over his face.

Suddenly there was a bright green light from his fireplace. Ludo Bagman's smiling face popped out of the flames. "Oh Barty, so do you like the new Wizard computer?"


End file.
